12.27.2010

one of the benefits to living in an old house,{that george and leslie graciously let us invade},is that i have the privilege of learning all the strange things people did to their houses way back when. for instance, before george and leslie bought it, the old folks living in it plastered over a perfectly good ceiling light. our room is usually dark dark dark. but, happy day! santa bought us a ceiling fan and light. here are some precious moments from the installation:

12.26.2010

i hate zombies. in stark contrast: john seems to love them.
allow me to explain.
last night, john and sam forced me to watch three and a half hours of The Walking Dead.
if you like feeling safe at night, {like i used to}, getting a full nights rest, {like i used to}, and being free from nightmares that involve the undead surrounding you and tearing you to pieces, {like I used to} -- then i wouldn't recommend it.
if you like your mind to be miserably poisoned, then The Walking Dead is for you.
needless to say, i had a very restless night last night.
i listened to David Archuletta and other happy, anti-zombie music on my new iPhone for about 3 hours, finally drifting off to sleep sometime after 4:30am.
it wasn't john's fault of course.
i wanted to watch it initially.
and i am a pansy.
but by the time I had the thought: maybe i shouldn't be watching this.....
i was already hooked.
and also too afraid to walk from the family room to the bedroom.
now john and his friends, {ryan, john crespo, and nat harward} are in the living room playing
a video game.
a ZOMBIE video game.

on a glass half-full kinda note,
my Christmas was the best yet, despite the zombie movie.
i have the best husband in the world.
and my family {on both the brunt and neff sides!} are the kindest, most loving, and most generous people i know. i am so lucky so have them.
oh, and zombies aren't real.

12.25.2010

12.23.2010

12.22.2010

monday. john's birthday.
leslie's cinnamon french toast in the morning.
presents.
work :(
lunch at DP with ryan and janessa.
more work :(
dinner at thai drift with parents and brother george.
delicious chocolate cake and byu ice cream.

kinect from george and leslie, which resulted in at least an hour workout for paige and john.

we made the parents play, too.

highlights:

1. john blowing out the candles, resulting in a powered sugar explosion off the cake.

12.13.2010

friday night, john and i went to our friend phil hurst's surprise birthday party. there were several of john's friends there, and it was so great to see and hang out with everybody. after some delicious cake and cider {briana is an expert at cooking delicious things, the cake tasted like a chocolate orange} we played backwards charades and signs with the remaining bunch. it was a lot of fun. sometimes john and i tend to be anti-social, {probably because the little time we spend together, we feel like spending alone. plus we're lazy....} but it was nice to remember that i actually do have fun in a group of people. silly me to forget that.

saturday, i hid in the library for awhile, and then came home to john playing black ops. i cracked the whip and we cleaned for awhile, but then ended up being L-A-Z-Y. we watched about ten movies, watched the jazz vs. mavs game {i don't really want to talk about it}, and ate a rather-depressing dinner at some greek restaurant in orem. not that the food was particularly horrible - but when you fall in love with a splendid greek place in salt lake, it's kind of difficult to accept a sub-par place of much lower quality. {especially when the workers at the greek broiler in salt lake know your faces so well that they say, "hey, long time no see." [wink] each time you come for a falafel}

sunday, george and leslie flew in {yay!} and ryan and janessa came over. we played a funny game where you have to finish a lyric of a song, the second half of a proverb, a line from a play or book, or a quote from a movie. i have learned that i do pretty well with the proverbs {as did most of us} but can't finish famous lines from american presidents to save my life. it was a fun night and i desperately needed the break from studying! i should probably end this post now though, since "brevity is the soul of wit."

I took this video last saturday. i thought it was hilarious. listen carefully, and you can hear me say: "i won't put it on the blog!" yep. that was a lie and a half.

12.09.2010

last saturday, john and i went and got the tree of my dreams. literally. i've been dreaming about this for quite some time now. who needs an air freshener in the home when you have a christmas tree? ahem. going and getting the tree just gets me into the christmas spirit so much. i love walking into the lot and knowing that when you walk out, one of these special noble pines is going to live in your family room for the next month. ah.... bliss. and, since i refused to turn on the lights, we got some slow-shutter pictures of the tree. so, rather than a picture of john and i standing in front of the tree, i gave you a little bit of a different approach.

in other news, i studied for about 8 hours today. not straight through, naturally, but collectively. i hope that it ends up being worth the effort. pathophysiology: you will be the death of me.

lately i have been reading my neighbor's daughter's blog. it has made me think a lot about my life and how lucky i am to be where i am. i have so few challenges compared to other people. sure, i am having to work my butt off to stay afloat in byu's nursing program, but other people really do have much greater challenges. i imagine that they will be eternally blessed for their faith, hope, courage, and love. if you want to look at her blog, (which i highly recommend) the link is here. if anything, it should make you grateful for the blessings you have, and help you admire the true Christ-like love and faith that this woman has for her children. i hope that one day i am able to show as much compassion and faith as she has.

12.07.2010

every semester, i find that it is excruciatingly painful to force yourself to take five comprehensive finals in the course of three days. especially after the promise of jingle-bells, gingerbread houses, decorations, mistletoe, shopping, jack frost nipping at your nose, yule-tide carols, candy-canes, sugar-plums, chex mix, movies, and family has been eating away at you for the past three weeks. the only thing that gets me through it - is the reward that i know will be waiting when john and i can finally bunk at my parent's house for a week or so.... and that i can have not a care in the world, knowing that all my homework is in, finals are over, grades are being calculated. after that, nothing is in my hands. and it's time to enjoy my holiday doing the things that i love most with my family.

12.03.2010

last night, i threw john's jeans in the dryer because i was in a hurry.
now, they are a little tight.
i am trying to do things right.......
make dinner every night, do the laundry, keep the house clean, keep up on my schoolwork.....
then every once and awhile i make a big mistake like this.
like the time i left chicken-juice on the counter for a minute before disinfecting it.....
and john promptly came and sat in the chicken juice.
i am definitely a newlywed.

12.01.2010

sometimes, i love the nursing program. sometimes, i hate it.
right now i am feeling the latter.

i know that i need to chill out and believe that it will all be okay -
that in three weeks time i will be home.
with my family.
and my cute husband.
for christmas. {yay!}
but right now i have so many scary tests looming over my head.
and i am terrified that my grades won't be up to snuff.
sometimes, the nursing program is so incredibly difficult!
actually, it all the time is. {please excuse my poor grammar}.

but i know i shouldn't be complaining,
since i am so lucky to have what i have.
and to be where i am.
and to love who i love.

speaking of who i love.....
it's our 2nd month aniversary.
i just thought i'd tell you, since you're probably DYING to know.
i promised myself that i wouldn't mention it in my blog.....
but i guess i don't keep promises.